Massage-machine.



A. P. BICK.

MASSAGE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 0:20.14. 1914.

1,177,566. Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

iii; "mi

NITED STATES PATENT orrron.

ALICE 1?. 310K, OFLONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA,

MASSAGE-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 28,1916.

Application filed December 14, 1914. Serial No. 877,240.

machine of the suction type adapted to be operated byhand power and used for the.

buildingup. and reducingof flesh on the face and other portions ofthe human body, a further; objectbeing to provide a simplified structure, economical in design and .con-. ven 1 ent;1n the arrangement and disposition .of its; various elements, care being taken 1n the general design of. the various parts to provide a. smooth exterior surface so that,

the. grease and ointments used in: a treat-i ment .maynot collect in such a manner on theinstrument that they can not: be readily removed.

A. further object is to provide an easy means. of assembling and disassembling the,

machine so that worn and broken parts may be easily replaced by a person unskilledin mechanics, and so that the entire machine may be cleaned at frequent intervals by the operator.

7 Hand operated massage machines have been previously used and patented, but their design and structure is suchthat the use is limited to facial treatments, whereas my machine be used onthe abdomen and other portions ofthe body with equal or; greater efliciencythan on the face. In the commonly used types of such machines, a great source of trouble results from their failure to hold the suction, for but a short period of time, and an object of my: invention is to provide means for holding the suction for a maximum length of time and for increasing or diminishing the suction at the will of the operator.

A further object is toprovide means on the machine whereby a change in the applicator may be effected by the operator and applicator of different sizev and shape, may be substituted for another without appreciable loss of time.

A further source of trouble and annoy-. ance in other types of machines, in which the applicators are usually made of brass or other metal, consists in the tarnishingof the metal when the plating has wornsoif; which causes a discoloration of the skin.

A further object of my invention, therefore 1s to overcome this trouble by provide. mgapplicatorsmade of hardrubber, composition or other non-metallic material;

Other objects may appear in the description.

Briefly stated, my machine comprises an elongated cylinder provided with a bellows at one end, a removable and replaceable applicator at the opposite end and an intermediate, piston vertically movable in the cylinder; asuitable operating handle and lever being provided adjacent to the cylinder= by means of which the piston. and bel-- lows may be simultaneously operated.

Referring t'o'the drawings, in which simi lar characters of reference indicate the same parts throughout, Figure 1 is a' composite plan of the machine with portions broken away to illustrate the relation of the variouselements; Fig. 2 is an elevation of: Fig.

7 1; Fig. 3 is a sectionalelevation of Fig. 1

on the line A-A;- F ig..4 is a bottom planof the same. i

It should be understood that while a single form of my deviceris herein described and represented, that the form of'the ma chine isalterable in many respects to accomplis'h the desired results, and that it is desirable to make the machine in at least two sizes, one forfacial and one for abdominal treatments, the form herein shown being the. larger size. V

In detail, my machine comprises anelongated and vertically disposed metallic cyli'ns der 1, threaded internally or otherwise to receive the threaded extension 2 of the cyl-in der head 3 at its lower end, the extension 2 having a flange 4 vadapted to seat tightly, when the head 3 is in place in the cylinder, against the lower end of the cylinder 1 and"- in such a manner that cylinder and head joint may be rendered air tight. The head 3 is provided with a contracted applicator 5, having an annular bead 6 on its lowen periphery and a central web 7 slightly above the head 6, which is slightly concave and forms a recess 8 in the lower end of the; applicator into which recess the flesh, in a treatment, is adapted to be draw-n, the web. 7 being provided with a plurality of air ports 9 arranged symmetrically around the center of the applicator.

The applicator 5,. above theweb7, has-a.

central bore 10 adapted to loosely and slidably receive the extension 11 on the piston 12, which has an enlarged annular member 13 adapted to loosely slide in the cylinder 1, and the lower end of the extension 11 is curved to conform to the web 7 so that when the piston is at the lowest extreme of its.

over the stud 18, and a spring 18 within the tube is mounted 011 the stud 13 and adapted to compress between the head 16 and the bushing 14, and serves thus to hold the piston normally downward in the cylinder.

The upper end of the tube 17 is internally threaded to receive and hold the stem 20 of the operating member 21 which has the opposite and outwardly extending arms 22, by means of which the piston may be moved upwardly in the cylinder.

While any suitable form of handle may be provided, I prefer to use the form shown in the drawings. The form shown consists of a hard rubber handle 23 secured at each end to one of the upwardly extending arms 2e by means of screws 25 in metallic bushings 26 'in the ends of the handle, the arms 24 terminating at their lower extremities in the ring. 27 which is adapted to be screwed or otherwise secured to the outside of the cylinder 1.

A bellows of any suitable form is provided, the form 34' herein shown being preferable. The bellows is made of soft rubber and in the form of an automobile tire, with the sides 35 and 36 slightly elongated and extended inwardly toward the center, the lower side 35 being held tightly on the upper edge 36 of the cylinder 1 by the flange 37 of a ring 38 which is threaded into the top of the cylinder 1, and the side 36 being held between a pair of plates, or disks, 39 and 40 threaded on the tube 17 with the edge of the bellows tightly held between the peripheries of the disks. In the drawings, the upper disk 39 is represented as metallic and the lower disk 40 as non-metallic, but both of the disks may be either of metal or other suitable material, as may be found necessary to obtain the best'results. The disks 39 and 40 may be additionally held together near their peripheries by means of screws 41, if necessary to make an air tight joint.

In operation, when the handle of the machine is firmly grasped in the hand of the operator and the head 6 on the applicator 5 is placed firmly over the portion of the body to be treated, the second and third fingers of the operators hand may be placed beneath the curved arms 22 of the operating member, the tube 17 to which the operating member is attached, may be raised, and simultaneously'with the movement of the tube the bellows 34' will be upwardly extended and the piston 12 moved verticallyin the cylinder, thus making a suction in the cylinder and drawing the flesh into the recess 88 in the applicator 5. The extension 11 of the piston 12 should fit the bore 10 of the applicator tightly enough to insure a limited preliminary suction in the applicator of the cylinder before, the bellows is sufficiently extended to cause an appreciable amount of suction. The air is drawn through the ports 9 and from the lower portion of the cylinder, around the lar'geportion of the piston 12 into the upper portion of the cylinder between the piston 12 and the disk 40. The operating member should be moved gradually and easily, care being taken that too great pressure is not exerted on the flesh,

and as the suction in the cylinder decreases,

the bellows may be gradually extended to a greater degree, the piston 12 serving to limit the quantity of air admitted from the cylinder in the restricted area around its periphery in a treatment and also as a centering means for the tube 17 when the bellows is extended. the effort required in the operation of the machine is minimized, and the amount of suction may be readily adjusted to a greater or less extent by the pressure of the fingers on the operating members.

In a building up treatment the pressure of the machine on the flesh should be as little as possible, while in a flesh reducing treatment the pressure should be greater. The cylinder heads may be made in different sizes, or may be provided with applicators of different size, so that one of the applicators may be quickly substituted for another with but little loss of time during a treatment, and usually a set of applicators of various size should be provided with each machine.

The operation of the small size machine is identical with that of the the large size, the thumb piece on the operating member being depressed when the bellows is extended.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire Letters Patent for, is:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a cylinder provided with a removably held applicator having a suitable opening in the end thereof for contact with the body; stationary guide means rigidly connected with said applicator and centrally disposed within said Thus it is obvious that Ila? cylinder; a piston movable in the cylinder on said guide means; and a bellows attached to the opposite end of the cylinder and movable simultaneously with said piston for the purposeset forth.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a cylinder having a suction chamber therein; an applicator removably attachable vided with an opening in one end for contact with the body; a guide stud rigidly secured to said applicator and extending beyond the upper end of the cylinder and centrally disposed therein; a piston movably disposed in the cylinder on and having a tube encompassing said stud; a bellows attached to the opposite end of said cylinder from said applicator and to said tube with an air tight connection therebetween and adapted to be extended above the cylinder simultaneously with the upward movement of said piston for the purpose set forth.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a cylinder having a suction chamber therein; an applicator removably attached to the lower end thereof provided with a contracted end having an opening therein for contact with the body; a guide stud rigidly secured to said applicator and centrally disposed within the cylinder; a piston movable vertically in the cylinder on and having a tube encompassing said stud; a bellows removably held in contact with the upper end of the cylinder so as to form an air tight connection therebetween and similarly secured to said tube and adapted to be simultaneously extended with the movement of the piston; and means for operating said piston and bellows for the purpose set forth.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a cylinder having a suction chamber therein; an applicator removably attached to the lower end thereof provided with a contracted end and a recess and opening formed therein for contact with the body; a guide stud rigidly secured to said applicator and centrally disposed within the cylinder; a piston in the cylinder movable vertically on the stud; a tube rigidly secured to said piston, movable on and encompassing said stud; a bellows removably attached to the upper end of the cylinder so as to form an air therebetween and similarly attached to said tube; said bellows being thus rendered ca-' pable of extension simultaneously with the movement of the piston; and operating means for the piston and bellows.

5. In a machine of the class described,the

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five to one end thereof and pro-,

tight connection cents each, by addressing the combination of a cylinder provided with a suction chamber therein; an applicator having a flange removably attached to the lower end of the cylinder and a contracted end provided with a webbed recess and an opening therein for contact with the body, said web being perforated; a guide stud removably but rigidly secured to the webbed portion of said applicator extending upwardly through and centrallyv disposed within the cylinder; a piston in the cylinder and movable vertically on said stud; a vertically disposed tube secured rigidly to the piston and encompassing said stud; a bellows removably attached to the upper end of the cylinder so as to form an air tight connection therebetween and similarly attached to said tube; means piston and bellows simultaneously; and means within said tube for restoring said piston and bellows to normal position in the cylinder.

6. In a machine of the class described,the combination of a cylinder; an applicator removably attached thereto and provided with an opening in the end for contact with the body; a piston vertically movable in the cylinder; a bellows removably attached to the upper end of the cylinder so as to form an air tight connection therebetween; guide means centrally disposed within the cylinder for centering said bellows therewith; operating means commonto said piston and said bellows and .movable on said guide means for extending the bellows and moving the piston vertically in the cylinder; and means within said operating means for restoring said piston and bellows to normal position.

7. In a machine of the class described,the combination of a cylinder; an applicator removably attached thereto having an opening in the end and for contact with the body;

centrally disposed in the cylinder and removably secured to the applicator; an operating member movably held on said guide means and connected with said piston and bellows; means on said guide for restoring the piston and bellows to normal position;

and a handle removably secured to the cylinder.

ALICE P. BICK.

Witnesses:

LUTHER MACK, ANNE I'IARTENSTEIN.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

on said tube for moving said 

